I really meant to post about my original Vintage Valentine quilt before Valentine's Day!  Such a bummer that I totally spaced that!!!   Is anyone still working on heart quilts?  I'm about to start a winter/Christmas quilt...so maybe!?! 

I designed this new pattern for a few reasons...

1.) I wanted a timeless (somewhat easy) heart pattern for myself and others.  I've designed a few heart quilts over the years and seem to always be chasing the "perfect" heart quilt pattern.  Mine are all so different, though, so I guess it just depends on what speaks to you.  I'll link to all of them at the end of this post.

2.) I wanted a heart pattern that was easy to kit up for shop owners (it's fat eighth/fat quarter friendly).  The great thing about this pattern, though, is that you can also use 10" squares or your stash for the hearts.

3.) I wanted to push myself to use solids since I don't use them very often!  This keeps the costs down for all of us - shop owners and quilters alike!

Riley Blake Designs donated the fabrics for this quilt - THANK YOU, Riley Blake Designs!

Can I tell you how much I love the feel and selection of their Confetti Cotton Solids?

They now have over 300 colors to choose from!  

Here are the colors I used for my throw-size quilt:

Pink Dogwood (pink background)

Pewter (tan sashing and binding)

 Riley Burgandy, Riley Fuchsia, Riley Hot Pink, Boysenberry, and Hibiscus (hearts)

Note: For the full-size cover quilt mockup, I used the addition of Magenta and Rose.

The skill level on this pattern is "confident beginner". 

I think the hardest part (or the part that takes the longest is making and squaring up the sashing units).

But it's not too bad if you chain piece everything!

Jen Ostler in Highland, UT. quilted it for me.  You know she is my fave!  She trims my quilts, ties them up with a bow, and attaches a little chocolate to the receipt.  On top of being an AMAZING long arm quilter!  She really is the best!

I had Jen use the Knit 1 Purl 2 pantograph by Natalie Gorman on this quilt to add some sweet, curvy texture to this (otherwise angular) quilt.  I like the thread color to match my background color, so she went with a light pink thread color that matched perfectly!

Here is the little heart she added to the quilting (her signature move!)

Makes for a fun game of hide-and-seek!

Per usual, I added one of the simple labels I get from Ever Emblem.  They're so easy to sew into the binding so I don't have an excuse to not label my quilts!  I get the 2" cotton, fold-over, sew-in labels.  If you want to get some for yourself, you will just have to pick one of their basic cotton labels and customize it from there.  I machine stitch my binding down around it because it's hard to hand stitch through it (but then I usually hand stitch the rest of my binding down to the back of my quilt).

This time, I machine-bound my quilt, though.  One of my biggest tips when machine binding a quilt is to match the color of the top thread and bobbin thread to the side of the quilt where they will appear.  It hides a lot of potential flaws!

I had some of the Pink Dogwood background fabric leftover so I decided to use it on the back of the quilt as well.  Note to self, use more Riley Blake Confetti Cotton Solids as quilt backs!  It's cheaper than buying printed fabric and it shows the quilting so well!

So what do you think?  Are you team "solids" or team "prints"?

I am usually team "prints" but I like how the hearts and quilting really pop on the solids!

Vintage Valentine includes instructions for 4 quilt sizes - crib, throw, full, and queen.

Like I said before, this is the throw-size quilt.

If you'd like to see a queen-size version in prints, click HERE.

I'd love to hear what you think about this quilt!  I really enjoyed making

this version with Riley Blake Designs Confetti Cotton Solids!

If you'd like to grab the Vintage Valentine paper pattern, click HERE. 

If you'd like the Vintage Valentine PDF pattern, click HERE.

My other heart quilt patterns:

Always & Forever (1" finished squares)

Cherish (scalloped border)

With Love (hearts & plaid)

They're all available as both paper and PDF patterns.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Vintage Valentine Quilt

 I have a new pattern to share with you guys today!

I've been working on it for a couple of months now and it's finally ready to share!

And oh, I hope you love it as much as I do!  Let me introduce...Vintage Valentine!

Vintage Valentine is a timeless heart pattern that is fat eighth/fat quarter friendly

and comes with instructions for 4 different quilt sizes!  I have actually been working on

two different versions (the lighter, cover quilt version in Riley Blake Designs Confetti Cotton

Solids which you can see HERE) and a darker version that I'll be sharing today.  

I fell in love with these prints while working at my new job

(a cute little fabric shop that just opened in American Fork, Utah!

It's called Maker's & Co.  It's such a fun store; you should come visit!)

I thought the dark magenta fabric would really make the heart fabrics pop!

It's got a subtle print on it so it's got some interest, but doesn't take away from the hearts.

I made 56 hearts for a queen-size quilt!

And then...this is where the magic happens...the sashing!

High contrast for a big impact!

And once I got the quilt top made, it was off to my longarm quilter for some beautiful quilting.

Jen Ostler in Highland, Utah quilted it with the Almost Plaid panto by

The Quilting Mill.  I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I was being pretty

indecisive about which panto to use, but I kept coming back to this one because

I thought it worked so well with the design of the sashing.

I usually like my thread color to blend with my background fabric as much as possible

so I knew this quilt would be tricky because there is so much contrast between the

dark and light fabrics.  After some debate about different thread color options,

I decided to just use the magenta color.  There's so much of it that I knew it would blend

on most of the quilt and that I was going to have to be okay with it popping

on the cream fabric.  I think it turned out great though.  Thanks Jen!

As many of you know, Jen always hides a little object in the quilting

for a fun game of hide and seek.  This time, she quilted a little heart into the design,

which was perfect!  I found it when I was sewing the binding on.

Once I got the binding sewn to the front, I sewed one of the personalized quilt labels that I get from Ever Emblem onto the back.  They're so easy to attach, I don't have an excuse to not label my quilts!  I get the 2" cotton, fold-over, sew-in labels.  If you want to get some for yourself, you will just have to pick one of their basic cotton labels and customize it from there.  I always machine stitch my binding down around the labels because it's hard to hand stitch through them.  But this time, I continued with the machine binding all the way around the quilt because I was in a hurry to get it done!  It's going to be on display at Maker's & Co soon (where we'll be selling the pattern and kits!)

I love how this quilt has more of a "sophisticated" look,

which is perfect for my daughter's room (she's 20).  

I just wish I had some big magenta euro shams to really complete the look.

Maybe with ruffles!?!  How cute would that be?  Maybe someday I'll get to that project!

As I said before, this pattern is fat eighth and fat quarter friendly.

But I think it would be awesome to make the hearts even scrappier.

You could use 10" squares or just fabrics from your stash

to make all of the hearts different.

One last photo...

Thank you to my boys for helping me get an outdoor shot!

It's not every day that I get two good-looking, tall men to help me with my job!

Well, that's it!  My new pattern, Vintage Valentine!

I'd love to hear what you think.  Please leave a comment below if you feel so inclined.

Vintage Valentine is available as a paper pattern HERE or a PDF pattern HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Cherish - Alternate Version

 Hello, hello!  2 posts in 2 days!  What's up with me?!?

Well, you may remember I posted about my new Cherish quilt pattern back in February.

Well, I made another version of that pattern that I want to share with you!

Since I know applique is not for everyone, I wanted to make a version of this pattern that doesn't have the appliqued scalloped border.  When I was making the original and writing the pattern, I knew it could be cute either way.  I always want to encourage you to think "outside of the box" and make each quilt your own!  If you don't love one aspect of a pattern but love the rest - you can change it!

I purchased this quarter-yard bundle of woven fabrics.  They're so dreamy and soft and I love the texture and colors!  I knew I wanted to use the navy blue fabric for the background so I pulled out a few of the other colors that were similar in value and saved those for another project.  I wanted to make sure I had enough contrast between the background fabric and hearts.

Cherish comes with instructions for 3 different size quilts - lap, throw, and full.

This is the throw-size quilt.

I had my longarm quilter, Jen Ostler quilt it with the Domestic Stitches Squared panto by Leisha Kaye.  I LOVE how it turned out!  I think the geometric pattern goes really well with the modern vibe of these fabrics and colors.  Do you see the "hidden object" Jen quilted into the design (see below)?

I bought some leftover fabric from a friend (who was using the same line of fabrics but in plaids) for the binding.  Don't you think the plaids really pull the whole thing together?

For the back, I debated between a pretty, large-scale floral print in similar colors and this solid pink woven fabric.  You know I love prints, especially floral ones, but in the end, I decided to keep the modern vibe going and get the solid pink.  I think it sweetened the whole thing up.  I'm glad I decided to go "outside of my box" but again, to each their own.  There is no right or wrong here.  What would you have done for the back?

I would describe the skill level for this version of Cherish as "confident beginner".

You can use scraps, your stash, 2-1/2" wide precut strips, fat quarters, or 10" squares for the hearts in Cherish.  I love a versatile pattern!

If you want more details about this pattern or would like to see the original version click HERE.

So, I'm curious, are you a solid or a print person?  I don't use a lot of solids but I am interested in using them more often.  I am definitely a texture person though.  I use a lot of wovens in my quilts!  They make for the softest quilts!

Well, that's it for today!  

If you'd like to grab a Cherish pattern for yourself you can visit my shop HERE.  Be sure to tag me on Instagram or shoot me an email if you decide to make this pattern.  I'd love to see your version!

Happy quilting!

Cherish - A Gigi's Thimble Quilt Pattern

Hello friends!  Today I want to introduce to you my new quilt pattern, Cherish.

It's a scrap-friendly pattern that features lots of patchwork hearts and a scalloped border.

There are 3 size options included: lap, throw, and full.

This was my original fabric pull - all from my stash.

The pattern is perfect for using your stash, scraps, or precuts.  

I love simple patchwork; these hearts are so fun to make.

 I would describe the skill level for this pattern as advanced beginner/intermediate.

The hearts are rather simple and surprisingly, the appliqued border is too.

The scallop is a very simple shape that doesn't have points so this is a great pattern to learn the art of applique.  For reference, each scallop took me about 7 minutes to applique. My pattern includes lots of diagrams and tips so I definitely want to encourage you to give it a try if you have never appliqued before.  BUT, if applique isn't your thing, you can totally leave off the scalloped border!  I think it would be just as cute and I plan to make another version soon (without the scalloped border) to show you!

Edit: HERE is the link to the alternate version!

Note: If you want to omit the scalloped border, I would just do the cream inner border and then call it quits. So don't buy the red scalloped border fabric.  And only buy 2-3/4 yards of cream background fabric for the lap-size quilt, 4-1/2 yards for the throw-size quilt, and 5-1/4 yards for the full-size quilt.

I thought this quilt would be beautiful with some custom quilting (mostly because of the scalloped border) so I took it to my friend Linda Childs in Alpine, Utah.

I asked her to do dense crosshatching in the center of the quilt and I am in LOVE!!!

I left her to do whatever she wanted on the borders and I think the design she came up with really enhanced the scallops and feel of this quilt!

I love the red and white plaid binding that was already printed on the bias.  And the pink floral print on the back really gives it that Valentine's Day feel!  The labels are from Ever Emblem.  I've been getting them for years and love them.  So convenient and easy to attach!  I get the 2" cotton, fold-over, sew-in labels.  You'll have to choose a label and customize it from there.  

This was a really fun quilt to make.  If you want to snag a Cherish pattern for yourself, you can grab the paper pattern HERE or the PDF pattern HERE.

Let me know if you have any questions about Cherish or just what you think about this new pattern of mine.  Thank you for stopping by today and happy quilting!